How many hours do those in the top 10% of wealth work versus those in the bottom 10%? A better question may be who works more: people in richer countries or those in poorer countries? There are many similarities when comparing average work weeks across the globe.
Data shows that working hours tend to go down as countries become wealthier. Data also shows that the average working hours based on income level are also very similar across different countries.
Rich countries are more productive
Switzerland is 20 times richer than Cambodia, but the average Cambodian worker works 900 hours more a year than the average Swiss worker. This amounts to an extra 3.5 hours a day. The data clearly shows there is a direct link between working hours and national income.
Countries like Germany, Switzerland, and Norway have high labor productivity (their labor is worth $69, $83, and $111 per hour, respectively). With workers producing more in less time, there is no need to work as much. On the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Mexico have low labor productivity ($3, $5, and $20 per hour, respectively). As a result, those living in these countries have to work more hours to compensate.
Technological innovation
The primary driver of high productivity is technological advancements, which includes physical machines as well as ideas, knowledge, and processes. The average person today can produce 10 times more than their counterparts a century ago, thanks to things like electricity, assembly lines, and the internet. Technology, like computers, better machinery, agricultural fertilizers, and operational management help workers become more productive. This increase in productivity in turn drives higher incomes and a need for fewer working hours.
For example, farm production in the U.S. increased close to 16 fold in 63 years, between 1948 and 2011. This significant increase in productivity allows the farmers in the U.S. to feed more people with fewer workers.
Workers in the U.S. work more
The increase in productivity doesn’t necessarily mean rich countries work less. Countries like the U.S. and Singapore work more hours compared to countries with similar productivity. The U.S. is one of the most productive countries in the world, averaging $74 per hour worked, but the average worker works more hours than other Western developed countries.
The average worker in the United States puts in 1,765 hours a year. In Japan, the figure is 1,691, and France, it’s 1,505 hours. Norway holds the top spot, with 1,384 annual working hours and $100 per hour in productivity output.
Working hours by income level
There are similarities in how many hours people work depending on income levels. Using data from 27 different countries, on average the top 10% work about one hour less per week than the bottom 10%. However, the U.S. bucks this trend. According to data from the U.S. Census, the top 10% of Americans work 46.6 hours per week, compared to 42.2 hours for the bottom 10%. The difference is just 4.4 hours.
The top 10% in the U.S. make at least $132,676 a year, more than double the average salary in the U.S. (which is $66,755). While it may seem that rich people work significantly longer hours, on average they don’t work any more than the bottom 10%. The difference is that their productive output is much higher.
Main income sources for the wealthy
As you might expect, the rich get a larger share of their income from investments than poor people do. In fact, the top 5% of earners get over two-thirds of their income from investments. The top 5% make more money from their investments and business interests than their salary and wages. The rich also have more sources of income.
The bottom third heavily rely on Social Security payments and their salary and wages. The rich also make money from their private business investments. For those making $10 million or more a year, their salary only makes up 17% of their income and their investment income makes up 67%. The stock market is one of the primary sources of income for the rich. Many wealthy individuals invest in stocks and bonds as a way to generate passive income. In this way, the fact that they work only a few more hours per week on average doesn’t have the biggest impact on their earnings.